ON MEDIA.

ESPN turns to Hall for new `U'

January 31, 2005|BY TEDDY GREENSTEIN.

Mike Hall is going from one dream job to another.

ESPN is set to announce Monday that Hall, the Glen Ellyn native who hit the jackpot by winning ESPN's "Dream Job" competition, will become the signature anchor for ESPNU, the college sports network set to launch in March.

"He's going to be the guy, the face and voice of ESPNU," network vice president Burke Magnus said.

Not a bad gig for a White Sox fan who's three weeks shy of his 23rd birthday. But the assignment won't be easy.

ESPNU will broadcast more than 300 live events in its first year. They will range from the already popular (football and men's basketball) to the emerging (women's hoops, baseball) to the rarely seen (hockey, softball, volleyball, wrestling and lacrosse, among others).

Hall's tasks will include pregame shows, halftimes and postgames. He also will host specials and make public appearances.

He won't have to memorize the rosters for Miami baseball, UCLA women's volleyball and Syracuse lacrosse. But he'll have to know enough to be able to talk about all of them.

"I had lunch with (`Baseball Tonight' host) Karl Ravech, and he told me: `I need to know everything about 30 baseball teams. You're going to have hundreds,'" Hall said. "Part of that is daunting, but most of it is exciting."

Hall certainly is excited about moving from sleepy Bristol, Conn., to Charlotte, the headquarters for ESPN Regional Television, which will handle the primary production responsibilities for ESPNU.

"Let's compare the two," Hall said. "You've got a booming city with warm weather vs. the four things in Bristol--trees, ESPN, McDonald's and trees.

"Bristol actually gets a bad rap. It's not an awful hick town. It's a nice place, but not exactly a haven for a 22-year-old single guy."

Hall, a University of Missouri alumnus, beat out more than 10,000 competitors last year to land a $95,000 gig at ESPN.

He shared a "SportsCenter" desk with Linda Cohn in July but has worked primarily at ESPNEWS, where he pesters producers to lead shows with victories by his beloved Bulls.

Hall has a passion for college sports, making him a natural for ESPNU. The network already has solidified a home on DirecTV, and ESPN is in active discussions with cable and satellite distributors. The launch date is March 4, a.k.a. 03/04/05.

"He's been a regular on ESPNEWS, so I told him, `In the short term, you'll probably have less visibility but a much higher profile,'" Magnus said. "He's fired up."

So is Magnus. He is excited to show NCAA championships in sports such as wrestling and lacrosse.

"We've asked schools, `Do you mind if we show your lacrosse game?'" Magnus said. "And they're doing backward handsprings. They say, `We've been waiting for people to do this!'"